A Perpetual Reader Looking for Unique Reads

Tag: v. e. schwab

Phew. August flew by too quickly. Before school, I got the chance to have a mini vacation at my friend’s cottage, and I feel like I could tackle my TBR pile much more efficiently there than I do at home. I’m also participating in #TheReadingQuest, but unfortunately, I won’t finish it. Life got in the way.

So how was your August? Did you tackle that ever growing list? I’ve grabbed some great books, and I’m eagerly awaiting to read them. Like my wrap-up posts, I made new banner for all my book hauls! I hope you all enjoy!

Rituals by Kelley Armstrong

Eee! I’m excited and scared to read the finale of this series. It’s one of my favourites, and unfortunately I may have ruined the book by reading the last page. 😭 But I’ll soldier through, and I hope I’ll love it like the rest. I feel as if Cainsville is a second home to me since I fell in love with Kelley’s books.

I’m sad to see Cainsville go, but hopefully we’ll be getting novellas afterwards!

The Darkest Craving by Gena Showalter

I fully admit that I am addicted to the Lord of the Underworld. And I also admit I need help. Heh. I’ve been wondering how this sequel will play out. Readers don’t see much of Kane, the keeper of Disaster, which likes to completely wreak havoc on Kane and everyone around him. I’ve felt sorry for this character for such a long time. I hope I like it!

A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab

I haven’t read the second book, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have the finale ready once I’m done it. Schwab’s second series is a unique and imaginative feat to read. I adore the first book, and I hope to read the second and third shortly.

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July was a busy month, but I could only squeeze in four books. I finally got to read some books that have sat on my TBR list for a good year, and I regret not reading them sooner.

As you can see, I’ve got some new banners. 😊 I’ve been playing around with a few designs and came up with these beauties. I hope you like!

What have you read in July? Let me know in the comments!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved reading this book. It is one the most unique stories I’ve found, and I instantly ordered the sequel so I could jump back into Victoria’s world. Victoria mixes in time travel, betrayal, and magic into this enchanting story. I can see this series become one of my favourites. I can’t wait to read A Gathering of Shadows!

And I Darken by Kiersten White

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kiersten creates such a chilling and dark storyline that you cannot help but love it. I love how she swaps the gender roles. Lada, the female version of Vlad the Impaler, is ruthless, cold, and deadly, while her brother Radu is gentle, kind, and vulnerable. I just finished the sequel, and I want the final book now!

The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

⭐️⭐️⭐️¾

I’ve always been curious to see how Amum’s, the keeper of Secrets, story might play out. I think he’s an adorable character, but I was hoping for more tension between him and his love interest, Haidee, the assassin who killed Baden, another Lord.

The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Darkest Surrender is my favourite out of the Lords of the Underworld! For months, I’ve been dying to read this story of Strider (keeper of Defeat) and Kaia (a harpy). Gena injects sexual tension, sarcasm, and expanded mythology. She kept me hooked until the last page, and I couldn’t get enough of these two characters. I cannot wait to review it.

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Hey, everyone! This post is a little late, but here it is. I’ve been dying to buy some of these books. And Ii hope to get to read the rest shortly. Hopefully, they won’t sit on my shelf too long!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

This book has been sitting on my TBR list for months. Well, okay, it’s been there for probably a year. And I regret every second I didn’t decide to order this beauty. I have an affinity for books with different colour book case. So when I found out it’s wrapped in a gorgeous white, I nearly freaked.

Kell, an Antari, travels through parallel Londons. Red London thrives in magic; White London is sick with it; Grey London doesn’t have any; Black London is dead. When a smuggling gig goes wrong, he meets Delilah Bard and sets off a series of events that threatens his loved ones and the other worlds.

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

I haven’t gotten to this sequel yet, but I’m interested to see how Cassie takes the story. She’s introduced several conflicts that bring interesting twists to the new series.

Emma and Julian continue to live with their mistakes of not only becoming parabatai but also falling in love. Now to try to hide her love, she dates his brother, Mark. The Unseelie King refuses to follow the Cold Peace. And tension rises between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. The Blackthorns and members of the LA Institute must stand together to defend more than their loved ones.

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Our Dark Duet is one of my most anticipated books of the year. Victoria has turned me into an instant fan, so I think I’ll buy anything she publishes. Not the greatest for my savings, but meh. The Monsters of Verity is one of the most unique series out there. I highly recommend.

Six months have passed since Kate and August parted ways. The monster pandemic is tearing the city apart, and August now runs his own military team in Verity, while Kate hunts monsters in Prosperity. When she finds a new monster, she’s forced to come back home, but the city she left is not the way she left it.

The Darkest Passion by Gena Showalter

If you’re looking for your next paranormal romance read, I recommend Gena’s Lords of the Underworld series. For the past few months, I’ve been breezing through it.

Aeron, keeper of Wrath, cannot seem to move past his guilt of almost killing Danika and her family. Now he senses another presence stalking him. Olivia, a fallen angel, was sent to kill him, but she gives up her immortality for a chance to be with him. Duty and desire war within his mind, but they aren’t his only problems. Another angel is determined to finish Olivia’s job.

The Darkest Lie by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Lies is the sixth instalment in the Lords of the Underworld series. And it’s probably the funiest out of the ones I’ve read.

Gideon, keeper of Lies, cannot speak a lick of truth, so when Scarlet, another keeper, claims to be his wife, he can’t tell if she’s lying. To find the truth, they reluctantly work together, but what they find may destroy them both.

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

You know, not often do I find a book that reminds me why I love reading. And now I’m in this dilemma where I have no clue how I’ll get back to normal life. A Darker Shade of Magic is a rare treat for readers who hope to go back to their roots and find a book that truly surprises them.

Kell is a dying breed of Antari, a magician who travels through parallel Londons. He’s currently a messenger for Red London, one of four Londons, and a smuggler. Smuggling is forbidden though. Now it may come back to haunt him. When a deal goes amiss, he flees to Grey London where he meets Delilah Bard, a cross-dressing, aspiring pirate, and inadvertently sets off a deadly ripple effect that that may just threaten not only their lives but all the worlds.

I let a glorious book just sit on my TBR and not read it until the series ends. Why? I don’t know. Maybe life got in the way, and I underestimated my growing list. I regret not reading this book until now. I just want to pass this book onto the next reader and say, “Stop what you’re doing and read it. Now.”

I’ve only read Victoria’s Monsters of Verity series but have heard a lot of this one. And it is unlike any other book I’ve read. There were times where I had to convince myself not to burst out laughing, only to fail and scare my cat. I’m a full-fledged fan of her work now. ADSOM is a beautifully executed story that shows another side to magic.

I cannot gush more about these characters. Kell is stubbornly loyal and protective to the end. That boy with those powers has a story to tell. He’s squeezed his way into my favourites list. The one character who sticks out is Delilah, or Lila. The quirky, clever, and dangerous pirate will capture anyone’s heart, then break it within a second. Her backstory intrigues me the most, and I was rooting for her from the start. I adore her. Both Kell and Lila blend seamlessly together, and I love how their chemistry carries the story. And finally an author writes a bisexual character who is realistic. I love Rhy, the devious prince from Red London and brother to Kell. You sense how much he cherishes Kell.

The four Londons take a life of their own. Victoria makes them into characters in their own right. Grey London possesses no magic. Red London strikes the right balance of it. White London is overrun with it. And Black London no longer exists because of it. She take world building to a new extreme, and I appreciate that she took the time to develop them. Don’t expect this book to be fast paced. It’s a slow burn, which she excels well in. I want the story to open up in an organic way, not rushed.

Don’t do yourself a disservice. Read this book, then proceed with the sequels. I know I will. I want to travel back to the Londons and see what these worlds have to offer.